Asked by The Associated Press in a phone interview Monday night if Open Arms might do what a German NGO captain did recently in forcibly docking at Lampedusa island, Oscar Camps said "we have no intention of disobeying" the law. The migrants are in their 18th day aboard Open Arms, which is anchored off the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Camps also said Italy's coast guard offered to transport some of the migrants to Spain, but Open Arms said they must take them all.

A Spanish humanitarian rescue boat carrying 107 migrants who have been aboard for nearly three weeks has rejected the possibility of taking the passengers to a Spanish port in the Mediterranean Sea, saying even though it is closer than mainland Spain, it is still too far.

In a statement Monday, Open Arms said Spain's offer of docking in the Balearic Islands between Italy and Spain, was "incomprehensible," given the distance and the conditions on its boat. The ship is currently docked off the Italian island of Lampedusa, hundreds of miles to the east.